Frederick N. Bryan
November 20, 1941 – August 21, 2026
A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, September 19, 2026, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Portage VFW Post 5855, 8845 S. Sprinkle Rd. Portage. Memorial Contributions may be made to First Baptist Church of Pentwater, in c/o the funeral home.
Obituary
Frederick Noah Bryan age 84 of Portage passed away early Friday morning, August 21, 2026. Fred was born in Kalamazoo on November 20, 1941, the son of Robert L. and Helena Madge (Ballinger) Bryan, Sr. On May 15, 1965, he married Linda Ann Darnell who survives him. In his earlier years he enjoyed skating at the J&D Roller Rink. He loved going to South Haven. He loved singing karaoke. A very artistic guy, he was totally involved in any production that his kids were in at school. He had a flair for set designs and doing make-up for many productions at Portage Northern High School. His family has many special memories of camping in Pentwater, a tradition that has lasted for four generations. His true passions in life were his family and friends. His family was his top priority. He was ahead of his time when it came to being actively involved in his children’s lives. Besides his wife, Fred is survived by his daughter; Laura (Rich) Murray; daughter in law, Michelle Bryan; grandchildren, Caitlyn (Trevor Morgan) Ankli, Lily Bryan, Noah Ankli, Brandon Murray, Sidney Murray, Luke Clark; great-granddaughters, Kinsley and Parker; sister-in-law, Polly Schiebergen; several nieces and nephews; and countless friends. Fred was preceded in death by his parents; son, Christopher Bryan; brothers, Robert L. (Nola) Bryan, Jr. and Jack Schiebergen.
We met through karaoke. Loved hearing him sing the real old oldies. 😊 He was a great friend that went beyond karaoke along with his wife Linda. Going to miss you Fred. Love you. Prayers for his loved ones for peace and comfort as they go through the days ahead.
So many years were spent together with Fred and his family at many family get togethers. He will be greatly missed!
We have some old memories together from times gone by. You are with Jesus now singing among angels. Tell my Jim hello for me. We will all be together very soon.
Linda, sorry to hear of Fred’s passing. Fred and I knew each other back in 1973-1974 when we both worked at Eaton Corp Fuller Transmission Division in Kalamazoo. I was 18 and he was about 29 or 30. He worked as a Quality Control guy. I used to walk over to his bench area before lunch and sometimes an hour before shift ended and we smoked cigs (Fred was a Kent guy) and drank loads of coffee. We had MANY discussions about life, God, his dream of owning a Record (vinyl record albums) Rental Store. He talked about it all the time. To this day he was the toughest guy to date when talking about God – man he gave me as an 18 year old a tough time about it, but I could tell he was listening. Then, after I got laid off in 1974 he called me out of the blue and asked me if my wife and I would like to attend a church service in downtown Kalamazoo where you and your kids were going to get baptized and make public profession of faith – 52 years ago I think. I believe it was at Grace Christian Reformed if I remember right, I think I was 19 then (now going on 72). I called Fred about 25 – 30 years ago and we met for coffee – it was a great meeting. I made a point to ask him if he was still holding on to his faith and he said yes. It was our last visit here on this earth. Looking forward to seeing him again! I hope you get this Linda. Steve Ehlers